The 2019 Annual Mayne Island Beach Cleanup on Sunday April 7th was a huge success thanks to the record number of community volunteers who contributed their time and resources. We had 137 volunteers participate, and together they removed 1,712 kg of human trash from shorelines around Mayne Island.

In addition to the many shoreline helpers, this year there was a team of volunteers working above and below the water to clean up years of accumulated human detritus from below Miner’s Bay dock. Present at the event was Roy Mulder who produced an underwater video of the cleanup effort. Check out the video here.

2019 Cleanup Stats

By MaterialTotal Weight (Kg)
Plastics584
Wood389
misc.191
Tires (including tires filled with stryfoam)184
Styrofoam97
Boat68
Metal56
Styrofoam & concrete float49
fiberglass43
Rope41
Crab trap floats10
Total1712
By LocationBeach CaptainTotal Weight (Kg)
David Cove, Oyster Bay, Reef BayIrene Barrett435
Bennett BayMike Nadeau295
Campbell BayBill Hayward230
Edith PointPeter Askin151
Miners Bay DockBill Jamieson130
Georgina Point & Maude BayLen Epp127
Gallagher & Piggott BaysKim Harris126
Miners BayMayne School93
St. John Point/ Kadonaga BayMarian MacLean58
Village BayPatricia Janvrin24
Briggs LandingJeannine Dodds24
Horton BaySue Duncan19
Total1712

While community beach cleanups alone will not solve the global issue of ocean pollution, they are an important component in reducing the harmful effects of human trash in our local environment. Each item removed reduces the accumulation of microplastics on our shores. An investigation of the upper intertidal area of Piggott Bay Beach is a real eye-opener! It’s amazing to think that mass production of plastics has only been around for 70 years…. For more information on ocean plastics, please read an article by Kelly Fretwell here.


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